'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us; come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there befalleth us any war, they also join themselves unto out enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.'   Exodus  1:9-10

 

Using rich illusionary textures, jewel-like tones, and iconographic imagery, New York-based artist of Jewish-Jamaican origin, Anna Ruth Henriques, explores the Biblical theme of the Exodus in a series of twelve Giclée prints of the same name. These works represent a synthesis of culture - the integration of belief systems, symbolisms, and sensibilities of a multitude of peoples present in the Caribbean. In particular, the pieces refer directly to her Jewish heritage as it exists in a Caribbean setting, quilting together a personal narrative, and commemorating the migratory move of the Jewish people from Spain to the New World.

 

The series came into being due to the InterAmericas/Society of Arts and Letters of the Americas/Sociedad de Artes y Letras de las Américas is a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts that creates and participates in collaborative projects celebrating the richness and diversity of the arts and humanities of the Americas.

 

As part of InterAmericas' ongoing interest in European migrations to the West, the Society sponsored the Exodus series in 2000 as the subject of Volume II of 12/12, a twelve-volume commemorative series of portfolios of twelve Giclée (Iris) prints. Volume II is jointly published by Caribbean Contemporary Arts and InterAmericas, and in now in the collection of El Museo del Barrio, New York, The National Gallery of Jamaica, and the Center for Caribbean Arts, Trinidad.

 

The twelve plates of Exodus are a visual meditation on the theme of exile incorporating iconic imagery scanned from her own paintings, drawings by the artist using a digital pen, and downloaded Internet materials to create coherent digital works of art tailored to the medium of the Giclée (Iris) print. Exodus was produced with the assistance of Rachel Baron of Laumont Editions.